Patent Application
20090320463
The invention relates to a stimulation actuator for moving surfaces for sitting on, standing on or lying on, used on mattresses, furniture or the like, according to the preamble of claims 1, 9 and 13. The invention further relates to a microstimulation system with one or more stimulation actuators of this kind.
Underspringing arrangements are known for mattresses or the like of furniture for sleeping on, lying on and/or sitting on, said arrangements having resilient slats which act as support elements for the mattresses and which, at opposite ends, are elastically mounted via elastic bearing means on a frame or on other fixed objects. The. slats extend parallel to one another and are at fixed, usually equal distances apart. By modifying the elasticity of the bearing means, the spring properties of the underspringing arrangement can be adapted to the requirements of a person lying on the mattress or the like.
Individuals whose powers of perception are limited or disturbed, for example as a result of being unconscious, individuals whose mobility is severely restricted, including those at risk of developing bedsores and/or those suffering from chronic pain, are exposed to various problems arising from prolonged periods of confinement to bed. These problems mainly involve lack of stimulus, bedsores and pain caused by being kept in a lying position. Although known underspringing arrangements for mattresses or the like can be adapted in terms of their elasticity behavior to the needs of the particular individual, the above problems are not solved, or are at any rate not adequately solved, by said arrangements.
As a solution to these problems, DE 101 48 569 proposes that the ends of the slats of an underspringing arrangement for mattresses or the like are assigned stimulation actuators with lifting members with which the slats are moved up and down individually, which leads to an individual stimulation and movement of the person lying on the mattress. The lifting members are designed as bellows-type hollow bodies, with the slat ends being clipped onto the top face of the hollow bodies. The hollow bodies are moved by means of a fluid, in the simplest case air, which is able to flow into and out of the hollow bodies. Starting from a central fluid pressure source, normally a compressor, the fluid is delivered to the bellows-type hollow bodies via respective fluid lines. A disadvantage of this underspringing arrangement and of the individual stimulation actuators is in particular the need to provide a large number of fluid pressure lines that connect the hollow bodies to the central fluid pressure source. In addition to the complex routing of the fluid lines, there is a risk of leaks occurring.
Proceeding from this prior art, the object of the present invention is to create stimulation actuators which are able to move supporting surfaces of mattresses, furniture or the like, particularly surfaces for sitting on, standing on or lying on, and with which it is possible to achieve the most targeted and effective movement of the supporting surfaces. The stimulation actuators are in particular to be designed to take up as little space and/or to function as safely as possible.
A stimulation actuator for achieving this object has the features of claim 1. The lifting member is mounted elastically on the stimulation actuator by means of an elastic element, the elastic element being arranged in such a way that at least a main direction of work thereof extends at an angle, preferably substantially transversely, with respect to the direction of the movement of the lifting member. On account of the elastic bearing of the lifting member, the stimulation actuators are advantageously not designed rigid with respect to the counter-pressure generated, for example, by a person lying on the supporting surface of a mattress, and instead they yield resiliently or elastically within certain limits. Since the main direction of work of the elastic element is oriented at an angle, i.e. not parallel, to the direction of the movement of the supporting surface, the lifting member can have a particularly low height.
In the context of the invention, the stimulation actuator can lead directly or indirectly to the movement of the supporting surface. For example, the stimulation actuator can move a support element up and down, for example a slat of an underspringing arrangement of a bed, which in the end leads to a corresponding movement of the respective supporting surface, namely the supporting surface of the mattress arranged on the underspringing arrangement. It is also conceivable to fit the stimulation actuators directly into a mattress, such that they can act on the inside of the mattress surface. The stimulation actuators can also be integrated, for example, in the armrests or backrest of a chair such that the supporting surfaces thereof are moved by the elements. Many different uses and functions are possible.
In the context of this application, the term “lifting member” is to be understood as any form of constantly moving and/or movable structural part of the stimulation actuator that can effect a movement, in particular an upward and downward movement, of the supporting surface that is to be moved. The lifting member does not necessarily have to be moved in the same way as the supporting surface that is to be moved, and instead it can, for example, also execute swiveling movements which lead to an upward and downward movement of the supporting surface.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the elastic element can be subjected to a pretensioning. The stimulation actuator in this case advantageously has an adjustment actuator which interacts with the elastic element in such a way that the pretensioning can be modified preferably steplessly. The pretensioning can in particular be periodically increased and decreased. If the elastic element is a helical spring, for example, the adjustment actuator can move the spring, for example via a tensioning band, out from the rest position and/or out (further) from an already pretensioned position and can swing back as the tensioning band relaxes. By corresponding operating connections to the lifting member, a movement of the lifting member is effected by the excursion or backward swing of the spring. Periodic changes of the pretensioning by the adjustment actuator can be superposed here by various constant pretensionings, which leads to different stiffnesses of the supporting surface of the mattress, furniture or the like elastically mounted by means of the stimulation actuators.
In a particular embodiment, the adjustment actuator itself comprises a linear actuator, in particular a spindle. However, it can also have an eccentric, a crank mechanism or a wound-up band. The adjustment actuator is driven by electromotive or electrohydraulic means in this case. Alternatively, an electromotive or electrohydraulic drive can be omitted if a so-called shape-memory actuator is used. This utilizes the property of a shape-memory metal to change dimensions and shape when the metal is cooled and/or heated.
In another embodiment of the present invention, representing an alternative or addition to the pretensioning of the elastic element, the stiffness of the latter is modified along the main direction of work. In contrast to the case of pretensioning, therefore, the “spring constant” of the elastic element is changed directly.
In a preferred embodiment, the lifting member comprises an angled lever which is able to swivel about a swivel axis and which has at least two lever arms, of which one lever arm can be assigned to the supporting surface, for the purpose of moving the latter, while the other lever arm is operatively connected to the elastic element. The elastic element can in this case be operatively connected in particular in such a way that a change of its pretensioning, in particular an increase and/or decrease, causes a movement of the angled lever about the swivel axis. The lever arm assigned to the supporting surface, and-which in. its simplest form bears on the underside of the latter, is thus set in movement, which leads to a corresponding movement of the supporting surface.
As regards the elastic element, various configurations are possible. The elastic element is preferably designed as or comprises a torsion spring, for example a helical spring, a rubber spring, an elastic band, a toggle spring, an annular spring, a hydraulic spring, a gas spring or a shape-memory spring.
Another stimulation actuator for achieving the aforementioned object has the features of claim 9. Such stimulation actuators are distinguished in particular by a compact structure. Compared to the prior art, fluid lines that have to be routed from a central pressure source to the stimulation actuator are not needed.
The lifting member is preferably designed as a bellows-type hollow body, and the movement of the bellows-type hollow body, in particular the upward and downward movement, is effected by an electrohydraulic and/or electropneumatic drive driven by the electric motor. The fluid movements needed for the movement of the bellows-type hollow body are accordingly generated by the stimulation actuator in direct proximity to the hollow bodies, in particular without a central pressure source.
The bellows-type hollow body advantageously has resiliently elastic properties (spring properties) here. Alternatively or in addition, a gas spring or air spring system can be provided for the spring-mounting of the lifting member, in particular of the bellows-type hollow body.
Another stimulation actuator for achieving the aforementioned object has the features of claim 13. The supporting surface to be moved can in this case be moved by a stimulation actuator with lifting member assigned to the supporting surface, the lifting member having a shape-memory spring, and the movement of the lifting member being effected by heating and/or cooling and by the resulting changes in dimensions of the shape-memory spring. Accordingly, there is advantageously no need for an electric motor for driving the lifting member.
A shape-memory spring of this kind, which is composed of an NiTi alloy for example, can have its dimensions changed by heating or cooling it. These changes in dimension are used to cause an upward and downward movement of the lifting member. To optimize the dynamics of the system, i.e. to bring about the greatest possible number of changes of state of the shape-memory spring within the shortest possible time, it can be cooled by a Peltier element assigned to the lifting member. An electric heating system can be provided separately for the heating phases.
The shape-memory spring is advantageously arranged inside a bellows-type hollow body, in particular a thermally insulated one.
The present application relates also to a microstimulation system with one or more of the aforementioned stimulation actuators and with a preferably central control unit for controlling the elements. The movements of the individual stimulation actuators can preferably be controlled individually. The control unit can here be configured such that the supporting surface of the lifting members, which move up and down, of the stimulation actuators can, for example, be moved in succession in a wave movement. As a person skilled in the art will recognize, the control unit can generate a large number of movement patterns or stimulation patterns, in particular by means of suitable control programs. The upward and downward movement of the lifting members then leads to corresponding stimulations of the supporting surface.
The aforementioned microstimulation system is suitable in particular for treatment of bedsores and prevention of bedsores, for improving perception, for preventing lack of stimulus, for backup in pain treatment and/or for obtaining and reproducing the schematogram. The microstimulation system according to the invention and the individual stimulation actuators here permit a stimulation of the mattress of a bed, and the respective stimulation transmits itself to a person lying on this mattress. Different stimulations afforded by minimal stimuli are conceivable, for example vestibular, vibratory, auditory, tactile/haptic, postural and/or visual.
The following illustrative embodiments show further features of the invention on the basis of an exemplary use of an underspringing arrangement on a bed on which stimulation actuators act. In the attached drawings:
An underspringing arrangement for mattresses usually has resilient slats that are mounted elastically at opposite ends on a frame or on other fixed objects by way of elastic bearing means. These resilient slats then form the support elements for the mattress. The slats in this case extend parallel to one another, with fixed and usually identical spacings between them. In addition to resilient slats, other support elements are known, for example individual supporting plates. The stimulation actuators can be provided at any desired positions of the underspringing arrangement and in particular in any desired number. In the context of the invention, it is therefore possible for only a few support elements, or in extreme cases all of the support elements, to be moved by the stimulation actuators.
The stimulation actuator 10 has a lifting member 11 designed as a swivel lever. The lifting member 11 is connected pivotably, by way of a swivel axis 12, to the end portion of a motor housing 13 of the stimulation actuator 10 comprising an electric motor. Above the swivel axis 12, the lifting member 11 is connected to one end of an elastic element 14 designed as torsion spring. The other end of the elastic element 14 is connected by a tensioning member 15, namely a tensioning band or tensioning cable, to a roller of a winding device, of which the rotation axis 16 is shown. The main direction of work of the elastic element 14, namely the longitudinal center axis of the torsion spring, extends parallel to the tensioning direction of the tensioning band 15. The winding device is connected to the motor of the stimulation actuator 10 via a schematically illustrated gear 17. In particular the motor, the gear 17, the tensioning member 15 and the winding device are part of an adjustment actuator 18 for modifying the pretensioning of the elastic element 14.
In the oblique position of the lifting member 11 shown in the illustration, its force of gravity alone is enough to effect a first pretensioning of the elastic element 14 in the main direction of work. During use, the swivel lever 11 pointing upward in the illustrated oblique position rests on a support element (not shown) of the underspringing arrangement. A winding-up of the tensioning band 15, effected by the motor drive, causes an excursion, i.e. a further additional pretensioning, of the elastic element 14 from the already slightly pretensioned state. Assuming that no counter-pressure or only a negligible counter-pressure acts on the operatively connected support element, the swivel lever 11 pivots upward and, in so doing, lifts the support element of the underspringing arrangement, in the simplest case the resilient slat, usually in a perpendicularly upward movement. A subsequent unwinding of the tensioning band 15 allows the elastic element 14 to swing back from the pretensioned position on account of the restoring force of the spring, which leads to a downward pivoting of the swivel lever 11 and, consequently, to a lowering of the support element. In the present embodiment, the main direction of work of the elastic element 14, in other words the direction in which the restoring force preferably acts, advantageously extends at an angle, namely almost transversely, with respect to the upward and downward movement of the support element.
The stimulation actuator 10 performs two functions in particular. On the one hand, it allows the support elements of the underspringing arrangement, and thus the mattress or the like arranged thereon, to move up and down in particular periodically and/or according to predefined patterns, and, on the other hand, it serves as an elastic bearing for the support elements. Alternatively or in addition to the stimulation movements of the support elements, different degrees of stiffness of the bearing of the support elements can accordingly be set by means of static changes in the pretensioning of the elastic element 14.
Further illustrative embodiments of stimulation actuators are described below which each likewise perform the described functions. For simplicity, equivalent structural parts to those in the embodiment according to
The stimulation actuator 10 shown in a plan view in
In contrast to the stimulation actuator according to
The cylinder element 26 can be moved relative to the longitudinal axis of the motor housing 13 by means of a spindle drive 33. By moving the cylinder element 26 in the direction of the lifting member 11, the cylindrical limit flange 29 moves in the direction of the torsion spring 30, relative to the piston element 25 guided in a straight line inside the cylinder element 26, until the restoring force effected by compression of the torsion spring 30 is so great that further movement of the cylinder element 26 leads to the lifting member 11 being swiveled upward about the swivel axis 32.
A bearing head 38, namely a connection sleeve, is arranged at the end of the resilient slat 35, and the end of the resilient slat 35 is inserted into it. The bearing head 38 is resiliently connected via an elastic lifting member 11 to a profile 39 extending in the longitudinal extent of the underspringing arrangement. The profile 39 can, for example, be the longitudinal spar of a conventional bedframe. The elastic lifting member 11 has a first resilient bearing arm 40 which creates a direct elastic bearing of the bearing head 38 and thus of the resilient slat 35 on the profile 39. For this purpose, the bearing arm 40 merges in one piece into a longitudinal profile 41, which is fixedly connected to the profile 39 in the longitudinal extent thereof. The elastic lifting member 11 has a second bearing arm 42 designed as a toggle. Staring from a toggle joint 43, the toggle 42 is operatively connected to the bearing head 38 via an upper toggle arm 44. A lower toggle arm 45 starting from the toggle joint 43 is connected to the longitudinal profile 41. Finally, a middle toggle arm 46 starting from the toggle joint 43 is connected via an elastic element 14, namely a torsion spring 47, to a linear actuator 24 designed as a tensioning spindle.
By moving the tensioning spindle toward the lifting member 11 or away from the lifting member 11, the pretensioning of the elastic element 14 is modified. As a result, the toggle 42 experiences forces in the direction of work of the elastic element 14, which leads to a compression or a stretching of the whole lifting member 11 and, consequently, to an upward and downward movement of the resilient slat 35.
By alternate heating and/or cooling of the torsion spring 57, the latter changes its external dimensions, in particular its longitudinal extent. In this way, the head 61 of the hollow body connected to the torsion spring, and consequently the support element of the underspringing arrangement assigned to this head 61, is in each case moved up and/or down.
The individual stimulation actuators can be preferably controlled individually and independently of one another via a control unit (not shown), such that an underspringing arrangement and a mattress or the like resting thereon can perform different lifting movements. Different lifting movements of the mattress are made possible by different programs of the control unit.
Suitable programs of the control unit permit different lifting movements of the mattress or preferably of a part thereof. In the simplest case, all the lifting members are lifted and lowered simultaneously (synchronously), as a result of which the whole mattress is moved up and down perpendicularly, and the shape of the mattress at the surface does not appreciably change. It is also conceivable, by suitable control, for all the lifting members on just one side of the mattress to be lifted or lowered simultaneously, while the lifting members on the other side remain unactuated. This permits an oblique positioning of the mattress or a tilting of the mattress about the longitudinal direction. It is also conceivable to lift all the lifting members on one side and lower all the lifting members on the other side simultaneously. In this way, the mattress can be tilted by a maximum angle.
In another movement program, provision is made for the slats to be lifted and lowered by degrees simultaneously in the longitudinal direction. For this purpose, lifting members assigned at least on opposite sides of a slat are each actuated simultaneously. By consecutive lifting and/or lowering of the slats in the longitudinal direction of the underspringing arrangement, a continuous wave-like movement is generated on the surface of the mattress. Another possibility of moving the mattress involves the lifting members on one side first being lifted individually one after another in the longitudinal direction and then lowered again. After the lifting movement has taken place along one spar element on one side, it is continued on the other side, specifically counter to the longitudinal direction. In this way, the person lying on the mattress experiences a kind of rotation movement. The above-described ways of moving the mattress and of moving the person lying on it can be extended in any desired manner, such that the invention is not limited to the movement possibilities that have been described above. In particular, it is conceivable for the movements of individual lifting members to be superposed in any desired way.
If necessary, it is also possible for the automatic control to be switched off at least momentarily and for the lifting members to be controlled manually. This is preferably done by a person lying on the mattress, who is thus able to control and influence the movements to what he or she feels are the most comfortable. This applies especially in cases where the underspringing arrangement according to the invention is used for treating pain. The travel and/or lifting and lowering speed of the lifting members can also be controlled individually by the control unit. It is also conceivable for the lifting members, or for air springs of similar action, to be arranged as supporting or stimulating elements on the surface of the bed or even to be assigned to the cover sheet. It is also possible to configure the freely programmable control of the lifting members in such a way that it permits feedback. For this purpose, physiological data of the person lying on the mattress, in particular his or her movements, are measured, and the measured values are used by the control unit to control the movements of the lifting members in a specific way. The measurement, for example of the movement of a person lying on the mattress, can be done by determining the internal pressure in the bellows or air admission line to the bellows. The control unit makes it possible, by suitable choice of program, for the lifting members to move the mattress periodically and also irregularly, in particular quasi-periodically. In addition to the aforementioned feedback values, other signals, for example acoustic signals, specifically music signals in particular, can be introduced into the control unit. Visual signals, for example color signals, can. also be processed by the control unit when so required.
The underspringing arrangement according to the invention, in particular the control of the movements of the bed, couch or seat generated by the underspringing arrangement, are used for stimulation, in particular for basal stimulation, of unconscious patients, patients under ventilation, disorientated patients, somnolent patients, patients with cranial and cerebral trauma, patients with hypoxic brain damage, Alzheimer's sufferers, patients with limited mobility, disabled patients and/or premature babies. The stimulation can be somatic stimulation, vestibular stimulation, vibratory stimulation, oral stimulation, auditory stimulation, tactile/haptic stimulation, visual stimulation, and combinations of the above types of stimulation. The result of the stimulation is principally the alleviation of lack of stimulus. The stimulation by specific movement, in particular of the mattress, serves in particular for prevention of bedsores and/or treatment of bedsores. In addition, the stimulation also serves as a backup in pain treatment and/or for improving perception.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 2005 008 457.3 | May 2005 | DE | national |
| 20 2005 011 767.6 | Jul 2005 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2006/004298 | 5/9/2006 | WO | 00 | 8/27/2009 |
